Sixth Sense
by Netsu Miji
Summary: Everyone has a sixth sense.Well, it isn't a sense, its a power that people rarely discover within themselves. Those that do are called Cryptids, people who are abondoned and hated in the world. If one is discovered, they may be arrested, executed, or turned in for money. This is the story of how the young Cryptid Riruka's life went from nearly perfect to a living Hell.
1. Cross

Everyone has a Sixth Sense. Well, it's less a sense, more a power that people rarely discover within themselves. Those that do discover it and learn to control it are called Cryptids, and are despised and hated in the world. No one quite knows why humans have this ability. If a Cryptid is discovered, they can be arrested or even executed. Riruka is lucky enough to have parents that care about her, even with her Sixth Sense. Most Cryptids are abondoned as soon as their parents discover their power. This is how Riruka's life changed forever.

-Begin Sixth Sense-

"Riruka. Come on, time to wake up. You're gonna be late for school." Riruka's dad said as she moaned annoyedly and sleepily as her older brother walked in and began shaking her.

"Alright, alright, just give me a second." she said as she raised her hand out from under the covers and made a gesture. Suddenly a black and white dress, and shoes floated into the room and gently fell on the bed.

Her father made and frowned, "What did I tell you about using your Sixth Sense? Only use it during an emergency." he said, causing Riruka to roll her eyes.

"I'm being attacked by my family, I think that's an emergency." she said sarcastically, "Now get out! I have to get dressed." she yelled as she raised her hand and caused them to be pushed back by an invisible force out the door. She grinned and slipped out of her pajamas and underwear. She looked in the mirror at her naked body, _"Why are my boobs so small?" _she thought to herself as she put her hands over her breasts. She slipped on her bra and panties and put on her dress and put her shoes on.

She grabbed her backpack and walked over to the door. She noticed it was opened a crack. She aimed her hand and blew it open to reveal her younger sister hiding behind it, "Gina? What are you doing?" she asked her as Gina stood of the floor.

"Seeing if your breasts are bigger than mine. They aren't." Gina said, causing Riruka's eye to twitch.

"You little pervert." Riruka said as she glared at her sister and walked past her. She walked down stairs to the front door, "I'm leaving for school, goodbye!" she yelled, receiving "goodbye's" from her family as she walked out the door. She walked down the sidewalk until she saw a group of people standing at the bus stop. She spotted her friend in the crowd and walked up to her.

"Hey, Nozomi!" she said as she tapped on the shoulder of the green-haired girl. Nozomi turned around and smiled at the sight of her long-time friend.

"Hi, Riruka." she said as the two gave each other a friendly hug. "So what's new?" she asked as they broke the hug.

Riruka put out her hand and showed a beautiful gold ring with a diamond in the center, "My mom gave me my grandmother's ring yesterday." she said as Nozomi watched the light glisten in the diamond.

"Wow, its a beautiful ring." Nozomi commented as she spotted the bus coming down the road. It stopped next to the group and the doors swung open. The group began crowding onto the bus, Riruka followed Nozomi so she could sit next to her. The bus' seats quickly filled, and Nozomi was forced to sit and fill a seat, "Sorry, Riruka." she said as Riruka began searching for an empty seat, but there didn't seem to be any.

Suddenly she heard, "Hey, over here!" from behind her. She turned to see an orange-haired boy gesturing toward a seat next to him. Riruka smiled and walked over to the seat and sat down, allowing the bus to move on. Riruka looked the orange-haired up and down, mainly noticing his hair.

"Forgive me when I say I don't trust you." Riruka said to the orange-haired boy.

"Why don't you trust me?" the boy asked annoyedly.

"Because its a bad sign when a person has dyed hair." she responded bluntly.

The boy frowned annoyedly, "My hair isn't dyed, its the actual color!" he said pointing at his hair, "And besides, who's to say I shouldn't trust you? How should I know if you died your hair magenta or not, huh? And I saw that you know Nozomi, she has green hair, so what's wrong with my hair?" the boy complained

Riruka giggled and threw her hands up in mock surrender, "Alright, alright. I like you, my name's Riruka. Riruka Dokugamine." she said as she held out her hand.

"Ichigo Kurosaki." he responded and shook her hand, "So Riruka, because you made fun of my hair, I'm gonna screw up your's" Ichigo said as he took the bands from her hair and let her hair flow down.

"Hey!" she said as he grabbed three strands of her hair and began entwining them into a braid. When he finished, all of her hair was in a perfect braid. She pulled a mirror from her purse and looked at her hair, "Actually... I think it looks perfect." she commented as she admired the braid.

"Eh, I taught myself." he said as she put her mirror away and set her purse on her lap. Suddenly there was an awkward silence.

"So... I've never seen you at the school before." Riruka said, catching Ichigo's attention.

"I'm new, I'm starting today." he responded as he loked out the window and spotted the school, "So that's what it looks like." he said at the sight of it.

"Yup, that's the school." she said as the bus came to a stop. Everyone stood up and began leaving the bus, Riruka followed Ichigo to the door where they went their seperate ways.

"See ya 'round cutie." he said as he walked to the front door, causing Riruka to blush.

"Did he just call me 'cutie'?" she asked as Nozomi came up behind her.

"So I see you met Ichigo, did you ask him out yet?" she asked.

Riruka looked back at Nozomi, "You know him? Where from?" she asked.

"Oh, just from around town." she said in a suspiciously nervous voice.

"What? Did you date him and not tell me or something?" Riruka asked in a mocking tone.

"Wha-? No! I just know him, okay." Nozomi complained as she walked to the school.

_"What's her problem?"_ Riruka thought to herself as she followed her. She lost sight of Nozomi and continued to her class. She walked into the room and took her usual seat next to Nozomi, who had her face down on her desk. Riruka reached over and shook her lightly, "Hey, no sleeping in class." she whispered as Nozomi tiredly turned her head, "Why are you so tired? You weren't this tired a minute ago." she said as the bell rang and the teacher walked to the front of the class.

"Class, we have a new student today." she said as Ichigo stood next to her.

"Hi, I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, pleased to meet you." he said plainly as everyone gave a polite hello. Riruka noticed that some of the girls were staring at him and blushing.

"Please take your seat, Kurosaki." the teacher said as Ichigo walked over and sat next to Riruka.

"Hello again my magenta-haired friend. Hello to you too, Nozomi." he said as he sat down.

"Hi, Ichigo." Nozomi said waving at him, "Isn't he cute, Riruka?" she asked in a whisper.

Riruka blushed at the question and gave a hum before answering, "Oh, alright, I admit that I kinda think he's cute." she said as she petted her hair out of nervousness.

"You know I can here you talking, right?" Ichigo said out of nowhere, causing Riruka to jump, "Don't worry, I get it alot." he reassured her, though she still had a deep shade of blush on her face.

The teacher passed out a paper to the class. Ichigo looked down at it and grabbed his pencil and began writing down answers like he knew them by heart. Riruka stared in surprise of how fast hh sped through the page, "How the hell are you doing that? Are you guessing or something?" she asked as Ichigo answered the last question.

"Nope, I just take learning very seriously." he said as he walked to the front of the class and placed it on the teacher's desk. He grinned as he watched the teacher staring at the paper with wide eyes.

"Why, , you have real talent." she said smiling as he walked back to his desk.

"Damn, he's here one day and he already out smarts me." Riruka said as he sat at his desk.

"Yup, Ichigo's like that. He must be the smartest person I know." Nozomi said as she took her paper and walked to the front desk.

Riruka turned to Ichigo, "I never asked, why did you come to this school anyway?"

"I got expelled from the last one." he said as he face planted into his desk.

"What did you do?" Nozomi asked after she returned to her desk.

"I was forced to knock a bunch of assholes unconcious. My freakin' hair attracts the wrong kind of attention." he said as he ran a hand through his hair.

Riruka giggled and said, "I'll take that as an excuse to dye your hair another color." as she laughed.

"Oh, shut up! I got a broken arm, it only healed yesterday!" he almost yelled, causing the two girls to laugh.

"No talking in class!" the teacher practically yelled at the three.

"Sorry." the trio whispered at once.

A few minutes later the bell rang and everyone flooded out of the class room. Riruka noticed Ichigo walk up to Nozomi and say something. He grabbed her hand and they walked into a vacant hallway. She decided to follow out of curiosity and spy on them. She hid just around the corner and peeked around it just enough to see them. They were talking, but she couldn't hear what they were saying. After a minute or two they gave each other a friendly hug. Riruka could see something on Ichigo's neck. It looked like... a tatoo. It was a tatoo of a cross-shaped tombstone with a ghostly purple and black fire surrounding it, _"Huh, I didn't think Ichigo was the type to get such a thing."_ she thought to herself as the two came back down the hall, causing Riruka to retreat to her next class.

During her entire next hour, she thought of what the two could have been talking about. A date? Were they actually going out? That must have been it. Nozomi must have been going out with Ichigo without telling her. That must have been why she was being so nervous earlier.

The bell rang and dismissed the class. She spotted Nozomi as she left the room and caught up with her, "Hey, Nozomi! What's up?" she asked suspiciously.

"Hm? Oh, I just got back from... uh... the bathroom." she responded nervously. Riruka knew she was lying, she just saw him with Ichigo, "Let's get to our next class." she said as they walked down the hallway to the classroom. They walked in and took their seats next to each other. Nozomi began stretching and yawning, "I'm... already so... tired." she said as she raised her arms and stretched. Her sleeve rolled down her arm to her shoulder and revealed a tatoo on her upper arm, similar to the one on Ichigo's neck.

Riruka narrowed her eyes at the tatoo, _"This is getting weird. Either they're more serious than I first thought, or they're in some kind of cult."_ she thought to herself as Nozomi lowered her arms and rubbed her tired eyes.

"Nozomi... is there something you aren't telling me?" she asked with a cold, hard look on her face.

Nozomi looked over to her and blinked in surprise of the strange look on her face, "Uh... no... no, nothing." she said suspiciously fast and nervously.

Riruka gave a sigh, "Alright." she said as she refocused on the subject the class was focusing on.

-End of School-

The final bell rang, dismissing school. Everyone walked slowly out the doors of the school. Riruka ran for her bus after she was held back by her last hour teacher to finish her test. She ran so fast she didn't notice the stone in front of her and tripped over it, sending her ring to fly off her finger, "Oh, Shit!" he yelled as the ring bounced off the concrete and over the curb. She ran to the curb, only to find nothing, "Where did it go? I saw it fly over here." she said as she suddenly noticed a drain pipe, instantly realizing where the ring went. The buses left, as Riruka struggled to reach the ring. It was a deep drain pipe, she couldn't even see the bottom. She lifted her head up and looked one way, and then the other, "Looks clear." she said as she put her hand over the drain pipe and made a gesture.

She could hear the ring clinking against the metal inside the pipe as it floated up to the surface. It floated out of the pipe and into her hand. It was covered in dirt and mud. She stood up and began cleaning it off on a hankercheif, watching it carefully as she began her long walk home. Suddenly she walked into someone and took a step back. It was Ichigo, "Oh, sorry Ichigo." she said as she noticed the strange look on his face.

"That was an interesting way to save your ring, Riruka." he said, causing Riruka to gasp and take another nervous step back.

"Um, yeah... I, uh... have pretty long arms." she said desperately.

"You didn't even have your hand in the pipe." he said plainly as she slid the ring back on her finger, "And I saw that thing float into your hand." he continued.

Riruka took another step back, "What? You must be seeing things Ichigo." she said nervously as she turned to walk away, "See ya later." she said as Ichigo grabbed her wrist tight. She squirmed to break his grip, but he was too strong, "Let... me... GO!" she screamed.

"Admit it, your a Cryptid, aren't you?" he asked, sending the sudden realization to Riruka that her worst nightmare had come true.

She had been caught.

-End Chapter One-

Tell me how you liked it. I bet you thought it was gonna be about seeing ghosts when you saw the title, didn't ya? Check my profile page and help settle a poll I have set up there. Hope you enjoyed.


	2. The Man and Five Others

"Let GO!" Riruka yelled as Ichigo dragged her down the street. Wait, she was a Cryptid and he already knew it, why not act like one? She aimed her hand and blasted him away, but he carried her with him since he still held her wrist.

Ichigo stood back up and picked her up and continued to drag her, "Settle down, dammit." he said as he kept walking and dragging her. Her pulled her to the corner and looked down the alley and scanned the streets. After he confirmed it was clear he dragged her down the alley a few yards and let her go. As soon as he loosened his grip she began running back down the alleyway, "Hey! Hold up!" he yelled in a hushed voice as he grabbed her wrist again and pulled her back to him.

"What the fuck do you want!" she yelled as she stomped her foot and looked him in the eye. He almost jumped at the sight of her terrifying grimace, but got over it.

"Okay, do you admit your a Cryptid?" he asked excitedly.

"I blasted you down the street, so, fine, yes, I'm a Cryptid." she said annoyedly.

"Yeah, thanks for that. But seriously, this is great!" he said.

"Why, what're you going to do? Turn me in?" she shouted.

Ichigo put on an annoyed face, "No, for God's sake! Let me show you." he said as he turned around to a brick wall. He raised his hand above his hand and pressed it against the wall and dragged it down to his feet, leaving a trail of a purple substance. He buried his hands deep into the stuff and tore open a hole in the shape of a perfect circle. Ripples ran in and out like a puddle of water and the inside of the school could be seen. Riruka stared in amazement and walked over to it and put her hand into it. Larger ripples appeared as her hand entered the pool. It was cool like in the hallways of the school. She walked through the rest of the way, and into the hallway of the school.

"This is... impossible." she said as she looked back into the pool to see Ichigo watching and waving. He walked in behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"That sounds like something a normal person would say." he said to her as she put her hand in and out of the portal.

"Its not my fault, I... I never met another Cryptid." she said as she turned back around with a blush on her face.

"I guess that makes sense, Cryptids don't usually tell anyone alse about their sixth sense unless they trust them in every way. So I don't blame you." he responded, "Come on." he said as he pulled her back through the portal and into the alley. He walked back to the portal and closed it back to the trail of purple and he dragged his hand from the bottom of the trail to the top, and the purple substance disappeared.

"So... you can open portals?" she asked nervously.

Ichigo scratched the back of his head, "Well, I wouldn't say that, I can do more than open portals. I can't describe it exactly, but if I had to guess, I'd say my Sixth Sense is bending reality." he said as he thought.

Her eyes were wide after she heard that. He walked to the wall again, "What're you doing? Are we going somewhere else?" she asked

"Why yes we are. I want to show you something that I show to all the Cryptids I meet." he said as he opened another portal. It showed the inside of an old building. Riruka poked her head in and looked around the room and walked in, followed by Ichigo who closed his portal. He walked ot a wall and tapped it in a tune. A few moments later, a women with black hair that she wore in a spiked bun and glasses and a glove on her right hand, and walked in from a door in the back of the room and stopped in front of Ichigo. She wore a student's outfit from their school.

"Greetings, Ichigo. Who is your friend?" she asked in a polite voice.

"Hello to you too, Nanao. And stop with the fake polite girl act, its annoying." he said as he poked her head, "This is Riruka, she's a Cryptid."

"Obviously." Nanao responded as she rolled her eyes.

Ichigo scowled, "Anyway, I'd like you to show her your Sixth Sense, as we have with everyone else." he said annoyedly.

"Alright then." she said as she raised her hand over her closed left eye and wiped the makeup off of it, revealing a strange, black, tribal-like marking that resembled the moon around it. The brought her fingers to her eye and took the colored contact out, showing that her iris was purple and had three black circles surrounding her pupil. She stared into Riruka's eye, and the three black circles began to spin around her pupil. It was mesmorizing, and hypnotizing. Riruka's irises turned purple as Nanao took control of Riruka's mind and caused her to walk a short way before she released her.

Riruka shook her head and regained her senses, "That's amazing!" Riruka exclaimed

"Its pretty cool, huh? Nanao, go get the others so we can introduce our new guest." he said. Nanao nodded and walked back through the door she entered from.

Riruka turned to look at Ichigo, "How many Cryptids do you know?" she asked curiously.

Ichigo took a moment to think, "Including you, six." he responded.

"Oh, how'd you meet them all?" she asked

"My Sixth Sense allows me to see abnormalities in a person. Some are obvious, such as hair color," he said as he flipped her magenta hair, "but some are less obvious, such as certain materials in a person's bloodstream."

The door opened, and Nanao walked in, followed by a man with long red hair and tatoos all over his body, a girl with long brownish-orange hair, another girl with short spiky black hair, and finally. Riruka was in shock as she saw who came next. It was Nozomi.

Riruka and Nozomi stared at each other in amazement, "N... Nozomi?" she asked as she took a step forward, "You're... a Cryptid?" she asked slowly.

"Uh... Yeah... I guess you are to, huh?" she said in response.

"So I'm guessing you two know each other?" the red-haired man asked.

"Yeah! We're best friends!" Nozomi exclaimed.

The red-haired man stood and walked over to Riruka, "Well, any friend of Nozomi's is a friend of mine. I'm Renji Abarai." he said as he shook her hand.

The brown haired girl walked up to her next, "Orihime Inoue." she stated as she shook her hand.

The spiky black-haired shook her hand, "Tatsuki Arisawa."

"Its nice to meet you all." she said as Ichigo walked next to her.

"Time to show off your Sixth Senses." he said. Orihime stood and walked to the middle of the room and over to a decaying plant. She raised her and over the plant and the plant began to become beautifully bloomed.

She turned to Riruka, "I can reverse the time of an object, make it the way it was in the past. I use it on myself to stay alive. In reality, I'm 962 years old." she said, causing Riruka's jaw to drop to the floor.

"That happens to everyone she tells!" Renji laughed.

Tatsuki walked up next. She held out her arm and a visible light flowed down it and into her hand, taking the form of a katana. She gestured her hand upward and the light flew into the air and into her other hand in the form of a pistol, "I'm able to channel energy through my body and use it as a weapon." she stated as she walked to her seat on a crate.

Renji walked up next. He closed his eyes and focused, his tatoos began glowing red and his eyes turned green. He walked over to the wall and put his hand through it, like a ghost almost, "I can control spiritual ablilties. Unfortunatley it also gets me in conversations with ghosts." he said as he turned to his left, looking at nothing, "What the he-. How long have you been there? Go away!"

Everyone stared at him akwardly, "Uh... Okay, me next." Nozomi said as she walked to the center of the room. She spread her arms and she levitated off the ground. She floated over to Riruka, "Pretty impressive, huh?" she asked as she lowered herself to the ground and walked over to a chair and sat.

"Alright, Riruka, your next." Ichigo ordered.

Riruka nodded and walked to the middle of the room. She spread her arms and lifted them slightly and the objects in the room lifted into the air. She twirled her fingers and the boxes, crates, and the other Cryptids slowly spun around her.

"Put me down! Put me down, put me down, put me down!" Orihime whined. Riruka obeyed and gently placed them on the floor.

Ichigo caught his balance and walked over to Riruka, "Now that you've met everyone, and seen our Sixth Senses, do you want to join us?" he asked.

"Join you? Your group? You won't make me do anything will you?" Riruka asked suspiciously.

"Of course not. This our haven, you can come and go whenever you like, especially if your homeless like us. But the only way to get in is to have this insignia." Tatsuki said as she lifted a lock of hair to reveal a tatoo, the same one Ichigo and Nozomi had. Renji lifted his shirt to reveal the same tatoo on the left side of his chest. Orihime had it on her left thigh, Nozomi had it on her arm, and Ichigo had it on his neck. Nanao took off her glove and showed it was on the back of her hand.

Riruka thought about it for a moment and finally made her choice, "Um... okay!" she said excitedly.

"Great! However the planting the insignia on you is rather painful." Orihime said.

"I can take it." she said in response

"That's what we all said, now where would you like your insignia?" Ichigo asked. Riruka lifted her shirt, causing her to blush, and pointed to her back. Ichigo nodded and placed a hand on her back.

He looked up at her, "You ready?" he asked. She nodded and waited, "Okay." he said as he began burning the insignia into her back with his hand. Riruka arched in pain and gritted her teeth, holding back screams as tears welled in her eyes. A minute later Ichigo took his hand off, "Alright, you're done." he said as everyone walked up to her and patted her on the back, trying to sooth her as tears fell from her eyes and she panted from the after burn.

"You held up pretty good. Not as well as Nanao, but better than Renji." Ichigo said laughing at Renji.

"Shut up!" Renji yelled, causing everyone to giggle.

Riruka looked up, "So you all live here?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're the lucky ones though, but I guess you're luckier. At least you have loving parents. Ours threw us out like yesterday's trash when we discovered our Sixth Senses." Nanao said sadly.

"Why?" Riruka asked sorrowfully.

"Ha! You obviously don't know that most parents wouldn't be caught dead with a Cryptid as a child." Renji said.

"I guess I never thought of that since my parents cared for me like a treasure since I discovered my Sixth Sense." she said

"Really? Heh, lucky. We had to live on our own since we were eight or something." Ichigo said lowering his head.

"Damn. Who took care of you?" she asked.

"Us and us alone. Until we were discovered by Ichigo. Without him we'd all have starved to death by now." Nanao said as she reapplied makeup over her Sixth Sense mark.

Riruka looked at Ichigo. He really saved them all from the streets? How did he even save himself? Ichigo walked over to a window and saw that the sun was going down, "It may be time for you to get home. Wear do you live?" he asked as he prepared to open a portal.

"6263 Shijin street." she said. Ichigo opened a portal that led to Riruka's front yard, "Thanks, but how do I get back here?" she asked.

"Look out the window." Orihime said. Riruka looked over to the window to see the school down the road, "It isn't far from the school. The door has a special seal that only allows one of us to come in." she said. Riruka nodded and wved goodbye as she walked through the portal. She looked back through to see Ichigo waving goodbye as he shut the portal.

Riruka walked into the house, "I'm home, sorry I'm late, I missed the bus." she yelled.

"Okay, just don't miss it again." her dad said as she ran into her room. She looked around and walked to her mirror and turned around and lifted her shirt to view the tatoo on her back. The cross-shaped tombstone engulfed in purple-black flames.

_"I'm one of them now."_

-End Chapter 2-

Yup, Riruka now knows the truth about the Cryptid's lives. Tell me what you thought about the Sixth Senses I gave the others in a review. So yeah, review please.


	3. Ice Dragon and Black Butterfly

"GO AWAY!" Renji continuously yelled as he, Ichigo and Riruka walked down the sidewalk. Every time he yelled, the people they passed gave him strange and dirty looks. He began frantically waving his hands at the air around him.

Ichigo and Riruka ducked and backed away as he swung his hands, "Renji, I know you see ghosts and shit, but you look pretty stupid yelling at thin air in public." Ichigo complained.

"Alright, alright, I'll try to ignore him." Renji responded and put his hands in his pockets, walking casually, though Ichigo could still notice his eye twitching annoyedly, which Riruka giggled at.

"So... I never asked, but" Riruka said, "are you and Nozomi, you know, going out?" she finished. Ichigo looked over to her and pointed to himself. Riruka nodded her head in reponse.

"Yeah. Sorry to disappoint you." he said cockily, to which Riruka smacked him in the arm, "Anyway, what's on the list of things to do on this fine Saturday?" he asked.

"Hmm... I don't know. I never got a proper tour of your little Sanctuary." Riruka responded as she watched Renji's face begin to turn red.

"Oh, you want to see the rest of the Sanctuary, huh? Might as well, I don't have anything else to to do today. Hmm... Sanctuary. I like that name." he responded. He looked down the street and back and walked into a nearby alleyway. Riruka and Renji followed as he opened a portal into the Sanctuary. He walked in and waited for them before he closed the portal. Riruka walked over to the door on the other side of the room and opened it. The room on the other side didn't match the smaller room at all. It was nicely painted the color white and had beautiful wood furniture, and leather couches and recliners. She looked up to see a beautiful glass chandelier.

Riruka looked back at Ichigo in surprise, "How did you get all of this stuff?" she asked slowly.

"My Sixth Sense can turn normal things into other things. For example," he stated, "that table used to be made of rotting old wood, and the recliners used to be old, torn up chairs." he finished as the chairs and tables suddenly began turning old and broken, "But it only lasts so long before it turns back to normal. I can't keep it up for long."

Riruka rested her hand on a recliner as it rotted and fell apart. She looked around the room, but the walls and chandelier remained the same, "Why isn't the rest of the room falling apart?" she asked as the recliner returned to its normal old wooden chair form.

"What? Just because we're on our own means we can't do some renovations?" Ichigo stated.

Riruka rolled her eyes as Renji suddenly burst in a fit of anger, "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME! I DON'T CARE IF YOU DIED OF CANCER, ITS YOUR FAULT FOR SMOKING SO DAMN MUCH!" he shouted, causing the walls to shudder and and his voice to echo through the house.

Ichigo and Riruka were wide-eyed and began laughing as they heard Tatsuki yell from the top floor, "RENJI! SHUT UP! I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!"

Riruka turned to Ichigo and asked, "Does she know its 3:00 in the afternoon?"

"I doubt it, She's a cleptomaniac." Ichigo responded.

Riruka simply stared at him in confusion,_ "Come on, your smarter than this, what does that mean? Uh... uh... Damn."_

"I'll go ahead wipe the dumbass look on your face, it means she randomly falls alseep throughout the day. She's been getting better about it and working out when she sleeps so she has a schedule." Ichigo said.

"Dammit, I was trying to figure it out myself." she said as she and Ichigo looked over to see Renji struggling to push thin air out the door.

"Ha, looks like Renji finally decided to kick the ghost out." he said as he walked up the stairs to the far side of the room. Riruka followed closely behind and ran her hand along the railing and walls.

_"Wow. Its so well done and painted."_ she thought to herself. She looked up at Ichigo as he opened a door that led to a hallway, "You could be a carpenter, you know, Ichigo." she said as they walked down the hall.

"Thanks." he said plainly as he opened the first door they walked up to, revealing two bunk beds, "This is Orihime's, Nozomi's, and Tatsuki's

room." he said, suddenly ducking and forcing Riruka to follow as a bullet of blue energy flew overhead.

"GO AWAY! I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!" Tatsuki yelled pointing a pistol at them.

"Did she really just shoot at us?!" Riruka said panicking.

"Don't worry, their more stun bullets then lethal bullets, unless she's really pissed off. Yup, the day of the month you gotta run for cover, and replacing the furniture might have to be added to the to do list." he reassured her. At least now she knew to keep and eye out for a pissed Tatsuki. They stood and closed the door, they walked over to the room directly across the hall.

Ichigo reached for the handle, but Riruka caught his wrist, "Are there any projectiles I should be worried about?" she asked sarcastically.

"Ha... maybe." he said suddenly serious, scaring Riruka. He opened the door to reveal Nanao hanging off the top bunk of the bunk bed reading a novel. there was one normal bed to the left of the bunkbed, "This is Me, Renji's and Nanao's room." he said waving at Nanao.

"Why does she sleep in here? There's another bunk in the other room." Riruka pointed out.

"Because she doesn't like to deal with the other girls, and she's the only one of them that doesn't find sleeping in here to be perverted." he explained.

"Oh. I wanna ask, or this is going to bother me all day, is she a lesbian?" she asked in a whisper.

Ichigo was slightly surprised, but he had heard the question before, "I don't know, nor do I really want to know."

"That's a really good question though." Nanao said in a loud whisper from across the room.

Ichigo and Riruka jumped and shut the door running down the hall and stopping at the end. They were down on their hands and knees trying to catch their breath, "Did she hear everything we just said?" Riruka asked in a panicked voice.

"Probably, I forgot that once she's used her hypnosis on you, she's pretty much in your head." Ichigo replied.

"I gotta keep my eye out for her now, I don't wanna know what she'll do to me for questioning her sexuality, she creeps the shit out of me." she screamed.

"Speak for yourself, I sleep in the same room as her, she might kill me. She might hypnotize me in my sleep and make me jump off the roof." Ichigo whined in reply.

"Oh, calm down you damn pussies, I'm not gonna kill you over a question. And I'm straight." Nanao yelled from the doorway.

"SHUT UP!" Tatsuki yelled from her bed.

"That's a lie!" Ichigo yelled at Nanao.

Tatsuki appeared from the doorway of her room with a picture frame and Nanao pulled out her book. They threw the objects at Ichigo yelling, "SHUT UP!" simaltaneously.

Ichigo lie on the ground with a bloody forehead a second later, Riruka nervously laughing in fear. He forced himself to sit up, "Can we please continue without any more interruptions now?" he asked

-2 hours later-

"So where are we going again?" Nanao asked as she, Ichigo and Riruka walked down the sidewalk.

Ichigo and Riruka looked over to her annoyedly, "You just don't care half the time do you? We're going to the mall. I'm buying a tv, its boring as hell since the old one broke."

"How'd it break?" Riruka asked.

"It was my cover from Tatsuki last month." he responded. Ichigo suddenly stopped mid-step and looked at a man on the other side of the road. He was short and had white spiky hair and turquoise eyes, "Looky, looky, looky, what do we have here? A Cryptid?" he said as he carefully studied the man's actions and movements. They were normal, but his hair and eyes weren't, they were unnatural. Ichigo took the opportunity to cross the street while the man was distracted by his phone. He leaned over to the others, "Follow my lead." he whispered as he walked toward the man as he walked toward them.

Ichigo picked up the pace slightly while the man kept his eyes on his phone. Ichigo and the man collided and knocked each other on their asses. The man's phone landed on his lap, and he looked up to Ichigo worriedly, "Uh, uh, sorry!" the man said nervously, "I was... distracted." he said as he stood up and wiped the dirt of himself and then Ichigo's shirt.

"No, its my fault, I wasn't paying attention." Ichigo responded. The two laughed nervously for a minute until Ichigo put his hand out, "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki." he said as the man shook his hand.

"Toshiro Hitsuguya." he responded. Ichigo noticed that Toshiro's hand was cold to the touch.

"Nice to meet you, Cryptid." the two suddenly said simaltaneously, causing the two to jump and take steps back, "How'd you know? Your hair." they said, again, simaltaneously.

"This is getting freaky." Riruka whispered to Nanao who nodded in agreement. She looked back to the two to see that they were laughing from the scare they shared.

"Riruka, Nanao." he said signaling them to come over. They obeyed and walked over to the two, "Toshiro, Riruka, Riruka, Toshiro, Nanao, Toshiro, Toshiro, Nanao." Ichigo said introducing them all.

They all shook hands, exchanging greetings, "Ichigo, you took a risk accusing him of being a Cryptid without being certain, and revealing that you're a Cryptid yourself without even denying it one bit." Nanao pointed out.

"I can tell with a glance, I don't need to be certain. Come to think of it, Toshiro here has a blood temperature of 30 degrees F, plus his skin is cold as hell, I'm gonna guess you can control ice?" he said.

Toshiro's eyes were wide, "Actually, that's pretty close. Ice pumps through my heart and flows in my veins. My embodiement itself is the source my power." he stated, "I have to sacrifice my body to create the ice I command." he said as he grabbed his wrist, turning it to ice, detatching it and throwing it to the ground. It turned to an ice puddle and shifted into a humanoid form. Toshiro raised his remaining hand and high-fived the ice man. It walked around and looked at Ichigo and the others before Toshiro placed his handless arm against it, reverting it back to his hand.

He moved his wrist to make sure it had complete feeling in it, "Cool. Ha, cool." Ichigo said.

Toshiro looked up to Ichigo, "I showed you my Sixth Sense, now you show me yours." Toshiro requested. Ichigo shrugged and moved his hands around, creating a sword. He reached over to the wall of the building and swiped his finger across it and opening a miniature portal to the Sanctuary. He poked his head through it and found Nozomi on the other side.

"Hi, Nozomi." he said pulling back out and letting her poke her head through. She appeared to be talking to them through a window.

"Hi, Ichigo. Who's your friend?" she asked as she peered at Toshiro.

"He's Toshiro, he's our new Cryptid friend." Ichigo said in response.

"He's short." she said, causing Toshiro to turn red.

"I'm not short, shut up!" he shouted angrily.

"Alright, see you in a bit." Ichigo said as she backed out, letting him close the portal.

Toshiro turned to Riruka, "How about y..." he stopped mid-sentence once he saw that his phone was floating in mid-air. Toshiro snatched his phone and put it in his pocket and turned to Nanao, "Now you." he said as she removed the make up and lense. She stared into his eye, causing him to slowly fall under her trance. He stumbled and swayed slightly before she looked away and released him from the spell. He shook his head to regain focus, "Well, aren't we a pack of surprises? Anyway, I need to go, its getting late. See you later." Toshiro said as he ran past them and waved goodbye.

The trio watched him as he ran, "Its nice to meet another Cryptid, you never know when you'll come to care for them." he said glancing at Riruka without her noticing, "He's right though, we should go, it is getting late."

Riruka noticed that Nanao looked away from the sky and covered her right eye. Ichigo ripped over a portal to the Sanctuary. Suddenly a black figure appeared from around a corner form the far side of the building. Riruka got a better look and realized that it was a raven-haired woman wearing a black over coat and matching short leather boots. She raised a pistol and aimed it at Ichigo, "Freeze, Kurosaki!" she yelled as she fired a round at the wall next to them.

"Shit." he said as he slammed the portal shut and turned to the woman, "Hello to you too, ." he said cockily.

"Just shut up, you either come with me, or I shoot." the woman said pulling back the trigger slightly and taking dead aim at Ichigo's chest.

What do you think she's ready to kill them for? Also, who do you think it is(it should be easy)? Anyway, answer in a review please.


	4. Death in the Family

Paste your document here...

"Stop acting, Rukia." Ichigo said as he walked toward the raven haired woman.

"Uh... Ichigo. You might wanna step back." Nanao warned, "She's serious."

There was a sudden crack of gun and bullets began zooming by, "SHIT!" he yelled running back toward the corner of the building, ducking as he ran. The two girls hid behind the corner of the building with him, ducking and covering.

"WHO THE HELL IS THAT?!" Riruka yelled in panic.

Ichigo flinched as a bullet flew by and hit the wall, "She's Rukia Kuchiki, she's a captain in the CRCC." Riruka gave him a confused look in response, "The Cryptid Research and Containment Center."

"Whatever that is, it sounds racist, in a weird way." she responded returning to her original terrified state, "Why is she shooting at us?!" she yelled.

"She's been after Ichigo for a while now, she really gets pissed when he slips away in his portals." Nanao said shading her eyes from the ever growing night sky, which Riruka continuously wondered about.

Another bullet zoomed ahead, taking a chunk out of the wall. Nanao shook lightly from the moonlight, and Riruka cowered with every zoom, and crack she heard. "Come on." Ichigo commanded as he ran down the alleyway, the other two following. The sound of gunfire was replaced by the rapid, loud stomp of boots against concrete. Rukia appeared behind them, dropping a mag and struggling to pull a new one from her belt. Just as the group made it to the turn, she fired another bullet that flew toward them, splattering some blood on the wall.

Riruka gasped at the sight of the bullet wound in Nanao's arm, not so much from worry of her safety, but the fact that her blood was...glowing. It was glowing, glowing bright gold, not yellow, but shining, shimmering, beautiful gold. She quickly covered up the wound and kept moving, leaving Riruka in wonder. She regained her senses and kept following.

"Come on, hurry, hurry, hurry, quick!." he almost shouted, hushing himself to keep their plan out of Rukia's ears. He opened a small portal and gestured them into it. They obeyed and went in just as Rukia came around and fired at Ichigo. Once they were in, Ichigo followed just as a bullet zoomed by his face. "Alright... Alright, we're safe." he said assuringly.

"No you don't you son of a bitch!" Rukia yelled, grabbing his shirt and pulling him back through the portal. Riruka and Nanao reached through and tried to grab him. Rukia angrily pulled out her gun and put it to his head, "Let him go or he dies." she threatened. Riruka was quick to pull away her hand, though Nanao hesitated for a moment before pulling away. Rukia grinned in victory and began backing away. Ichigo gave a few quick glances at the gun before cunningly lifting his hand to move the gun just enough for the bullet to graze his hair. He put his free hand against the wall and shut the portal.

The two girls stood staring at the wall. After a few minutes, Riruka looked around to see that it was the Sanctuary that they were in. She could hear footsteps coming down the stairs on the other side of the room. She looked at Nanao's wound. It seemed to have healed slightly and had the normal red color. She had a horrified look in her eye. Of all people, Nanao was terrified. She began mumbling something to herself that Riruka could barely hear.

She could make out: "I'm a failure, I failed, I let him down, I'm worthless.", but the rest was muffled, though she could guess it was more self-criticism.

Riruka was suddenly picked up and turned around by someone. It was Renji and the others, who frantically shook her and yelled questions, "What happened? What was that noise? Where's Ichigo?" Riruka didn't have time to answer any of them, she was still trying to process what had just happened.

"HE'S DEAD!" Nanao shouted putting her hands over her eyes. Riruka could see a tear sneak pass her fingers. the room was silent, eerily silent. It was so quiet it was annoying, but at the same time everyone could feel the sorrow that the everyone felt. Some weren't so quick to believe he was dead, but even they could feel the slight sense of doubt in the backs of their heads.

Riruka broke Renji's grip and dropped to her knees in front of Nanao, "You can't be sure about that, Nanao. We didn't see..."

"NO! That isn't what I mean. I can sense his vitals from using my Sixth Sense on him. Their... their gone. His heart stopped beating, he's dead." She interrupted.

The breathing in the room stopped. Tears fell to the ground, and Renji dropped to his knees. "No. No, no, no, no, no, that's a lie. He can't be dead, he's the strongest one of us, he could kill any threat that came onto him." Tatsuki shouted from the top of the stairs.

"He'd hold back so he wouldn't hurt anyone. We all know that." Orihime said quietly.

"Who killed him? WHO DAMMIT?!" Renji shouted in anger.

"Rukia." Nanao answered quickly.

"Rukia? I'll kill that bitch!" he shouted slamming his fist into the ground. He stood up and began heading for the door, before noticing a missing face from the group, "Where's Riruka?" he asked suddenly calm. Everyone serached the room, and shrugged, "Were'd she go?"

-Outside of the Sanctuary-

Riruka ran down the street toward the bigger part of town, where they were when the bullets started flying. She made to the store that they were heading for, but didn't really know where to go from there. Left, right, left, right, she second guesed herself at next to every turn. She made a turn at an intersection and slammed into someone. They were both knocked on their backs. She sat up quicker than ever and apologized just before noticing who she hit, "Sorry, sor... Toshiro?" she asked in confusion. He waved stupidly and pushed himself up, "What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were going home."

"I was," he said, "But I had to absorb some of the cold night air." he said causing her to have a dumbstruck look on her face. "I absorb the cold of the night air so I can survive in the warm sun during the day." he said.

Riruka gave an all too annoyed grunt and shoved him aside, "I don't have time for this." she alost yelled and kept running. Toshiro regained his lost balance from the shove and decided to follow. She suddenly stopped in her tracks and spun around and grabbed Toshiro, "Quick! Do you remember where we met earlier today?" she asked frantically.

"Uh... uh... Yeah, I think so." he responded.

She pushed him in front of her, "Lead the way." she demanded. He obeyed and began running toward the direction of the moon. He stopped in the center of the sidewalk and turned to her, "Thanks." she said and looked over to the alleyway that had the most bullet holes in it. They walked over to it and followed the trail of lead and the splatter of blood. They walked around the corner to see where they escaped through one of Ichigo's portals. Riruka searched around for Ichigo, but only found damage from an appearent fight. She spotted a sillouhette of someone's leg. She slowly approached the shadow, Toshiro following closely behind.

She reached the shadow, but didn't dare look down at it. Toshiro looked at her and said: "On three. One... two..." she didn't let him reach three before she looked and saw Ichigo's dead body. He had almost no damage done to him, little more than bruises. She fell to her knees and her tears fell to the ground. Toshiro had wide eyes for a moment, but he wasn't as surprised as any normal person would be. It wasn't his first time seeing one of his friends die, it was just that Ichigo was the only friend that died the first day they met.

"NO... this can't be real." a voice said from atop the building next to them. Nozomi dropped down to the ground, slowing herself with her Sixth Sense. She dropped to her knees and put her hands under his head and back, "W...what happened? How did he die?" she asked as tears landed on Ichigo's lifeless face.

The two Crypids shrugged sadly, "I don't know," Riruka started, "we didn't see. There isn't even any damage to even show what killed him."

"Come to think of it," said Toshiro, "there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him at all. It's almost as if..." he was interrupted by the heavy footsteps of the others.

They're footsteps slowed as they approached Ichigo. They came to an ironically _dead_ stop. "I knew it." Nanao said, "I knew he was dead." tears rolled down her cheeks, washing off the makeup that hid the markings on her face. The inevitable sound of teardrops hitting the ground came a split second later.

Renji wiped a tear from his eye before it could reach his face, "Tatsuki? Are you... crying?" he asked. Tatsuki was among the strongest and most ruthless Cryptid they had ever met. Seeing her, of all people, cry let him know that even she had a breaking point.

Tatsuki quickly wiped her eyes, "NO, I just... thought Ichigo would live longer." she answered quickly and angrily.

"So... you're crying." he said. Tatsuki nodded in response.

Toshiro stood staring at Ichigo's lifeless body, thinking. "I count twenty-three bullets, but not one hit him. There isn't a single mark on him, so how did he die?" he asked himself.

"Nanao... your shoulder." Riruka said pointing at Nanao's bullet wound. Nanao placed a and overe it.

She walked over to Ichigo's body, "We should worry about Ichigo's funeral before we worry about me."

-CRCC HQ-

Rukia walked into her office and lightly shut the door. She let out a slow sigh before throwing her gun on the floor with enough force to break it. She angrily trotted her way to her desk and took a seat. She slammed her head into the desk and shouted: "DAMMIT!" and let out a series of angry breaths. She calmed herself and, without lifting her head up, pressed the button on the intercom attached to her desk. It let out a loud beep before Rukia said: "Momo?"

"Yes?" a light voice said from the other side.

"Could you send Luitenant Shuhei in for me?" she asked politely

"Sure, he'll be right in, Captain." Momo said before ending their connection.

Rukia patiently waited for her Luitenant to arrive. She looked at her only gun that was shattered on the floor and picked it up, reassembling it before holstering it. She turned on the computer and pulled up her assignments. She looked at all of the ones marked as capture targets. There were so many names with the word _complete _over them, but just one name with the word _incomplete_ over it. The name was Ichigo Kurosaki.

There was a light knock on the door before Shuhei entered the room, "You wanted to see me?" he asked. Rukia pointed to a seat in front of her desk. Shuhei complied and sat in it.

"So, is there anything new for me to attend to?" she asked.

"Yes, there are three new targets for you to capture, and Byakuya wants a full report on your mission." he answered. Rukia gave a light, but visible shake at the mention of her brother's name, "You really are scared of him, aren't you?"

"No." she said, "He's just gonna be pissed that his number one target is dead."

"Whoa! You killed him?" Shuhei shouted in fear.

"I don't know what happened, I threw him against the wall and he dropped dead." Rukia almost yelled.

"How do you die from getting thrown into a wall?" he shouted.

"I don't no! I'm screwed!" she said resting her head on her arm.

Shuhei hid his face behind his hands before sliding the documents of names to her. She picked them up and read the names aloud, "Yukio Hans Vorarlbern, that is a mouthful. Soifon. What, no last name?"

"It's the only thing we've been able to learn about her, we're not even sure if that's her real name." he answered.

She nodded and read the least name on the list, "Nemu Kurotsuchi. Isn't that the creepy lab director's last name?"

"Yes, apperently she's his niece."

"Does he care, or even know she's a Cryptid?"

"Think of it this way." Shuhei started, "Can you think of anything other than his lab that he cares about?"

"Good point." she said putting the documents into a scanner. The names showed up on the computer along with photos of the targets. Rukia logged of the computer and stood up and left the office, "Get out." she said realizing she left her Luitenant in her office. He obeyed and walked out.

She walked Down a long hallway toward polished wooden double-doors at the walls were glass and people's seperate offices, searching for Cryptid indentifications, tracking budget, and keeping the agents in check. She reached the door and opened it to see her brother sitting at his desk staring at her. She walked to him and stood as straight as she could for her commander-in-chief. "What's the report on your mission, Rukia?" he said.

"Sir, the mission was... a failure." she said nervously.

"Really? How so?" he asked in an audibly angry tone.

"I-I-I killed him." she studdered.

"Is that right?" he asked. She nodded in response, "Then how do you explain this?" he asked typing in a few words into his computer and turnin the screen to face her. There was a small blinking red dot on a map of the city. It was Ichigo. Red meant that he was... alive?

"How is this possible?" she asked, "I checked him, he had no pulse, he was dead!" she yelled frantically.

"Yes, but his brain activity is still very much there. It could just be the remains of Sixth Sense energy leaving his body, but you better hope for your own sake that it isn't. If he isn't dead, then the next time you even catch sight of him, you capture him and bring him here, or else I will have you removed from this assignment, and have someone else do it.

She lowered her head in shame, "Yes, brother." she said lightly. Byakuya suddenly stood up and angrily slapped her across the face.

"NEVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN! We lost the title of siblings a long time ago." he shouted.

Rukia put a hand over the red handprint on her cheek. She gave a slow nod and walked out the door. She walked through the hallway, some of the people in their offices stopped and stared at the red mark on her face. She walked into her office to find her Luitenant waiting for her, "Damn, what happened?" he said commenting on the handprint.

"SHUT UP!" she shouted as a tear ran down her cheek and hit the floor.

Time and a half, huh? Let's wait for the next.


	5. Blonde Nuisance

Riruka peered down from between the rails of the top of the stairs and watched Tatsuki and Renji carve out a coffin for Ichigo's makeshift funeral. The had planned to have it at midnight in the cemetery when no one was around. They couldn't afford to have a real funeral, so putting the back breaking work into putting one together themselves was the next best thing. But Toshiro and Renji were a bit suspicious of Ichigo's death. Because of the barrier around the Sanctuary, and Ichigo being gone, Tatsuki had to sketch a crude carving of the insignia into Toshiro's arm so he could get in.

Riruka stood and walked down the hallway to the room where Ichigo's body was being kept. Toshiro sat next to the bed that it rested on, studying it. "Riruka," he said as she entered the room, "do you notice anything... strange about Ichigo's body?" he asked suspiciously.

"Uh, no. Why?" she asked in response.

Toshiro stood and walked over to her and looked her in the eye, "For one, there is no physical damage to his body whatsoever. Two, there isn't any discolorization in his body. Usually by now a body's skin would have become gray, but his is still normal color." he walked over to the body and looked down at it, "And Renji can't seem to find Ichigo's spirit." he said leaving Riruka confused, "He can see ghosts, remember? Anyway, he says that when we discovered his body, his ghost would have been linked to it."

"Well," she started, "maybe his ghost wondered off?" she suggested.

"Not possible, according to Renji the only way a ghost could leave their body behind is if it were burried during a funeral." Toshiro pointed out.

"That's right," Renji said out of nowhere, "it just doesn't add up. How could his ghost be gone if we haven't even burried him yet?" he finished in and angry and confused tone. Riruka walked out of the room in even more confusion than anyone.

She had only known Ichigo for little more than a week or two, but when Nanao told her she was dead, it cut her like a razor. It hurt to the point where she ran for him just to make sure she was wrong. But why? The question shattered every bit of sense she had. She shrugged tried to shrug the question off as she walked into the girls' room where Nozomi was carving out a tombstone. She was polishing her work off so it would shine.

"Hey, Nozomi." she said sadly. Nozomi wiped the tears from her face and turned to her friend.

She took her time to force out her words, "H... hi, Riruka." she studdered. Riruka could tell she'd been crying while she carved. "So... what do you think? Does it give him the credit he deserves?" she asked pointing to the inscription in the stone. It read:

Ichigo Kurosaki

1997-2013

Our savior, protector and friend

Riruka smiled and nodded, "Yeah, it gives everything he was to us." she said as Nozomi wrapped her arms around her and burried her face into Riruka's shoulder, crying.

"Why?" she asked, "Why does this have to happen to us?"

"I guess he just..."

"NO!" she interrupted, "I mean all of this. Why do people hate Cryptids? What have we done that makes them hate us so much that we're like criminals?"

"They're afraid of us." Riruka answered as a tear rolled down her cheek. "People fear what they don't understand, you know."

"That's no reason to kill us off." she said as she picked up the cloth she was using and continued polishing the stone.

Riruka stopped and picked up a photo that Nozomi had lying on her dresser before walking out of the room and down to the front room where Renji and Tatsuki were carving the coffin. She stopped next to them, "I'm going out to buy some things, do you guys need anything?"

"Yeah," Tatsuki said lazily as she tossed a small bundle of money to her, "get us some work gloves, carving through this is giving us blisters."

Riruka nodded and walked out the door and down the sidewalk toward town. On the way there she thought of what Nozomi said. She said that people hated them just because they existed. She knew just as well as she did that it was true. She imagined that she told all of her friends that she was a Cryptid, and that they all accepted her for her true self. But she knew that that was just a lie she was telling herself. She knew they would probably kill her on sight. But then again, her family was completely calm when they discovered she was a Cryptid. Her closest friends would probably act the same way. She remembered when she was told that she was lucky for her family. The others weren't so lucky, being rejected as soon as their Sixth Sense was apparent.

On her way there she accidently bumped into a man. He had blonde hair, green eyes and was wearing a lot of black clothes. Black hat, black coat, black boots and, oddly enough, white gloves. Some of his hair covered his left eye and he was listening to music through his ear buds. After they bumped into each other, Riruka got an odd and suspicious feeling. She checked her pockets and purse and found they were all empty. She stopped mid-footstep and turned around to see him counting the money he had stolen from her. She dashed after him and snatched the money out of his hand, "Hey!" he yelled as he turned around to look at his victim.

"Next time you should be a little more stealthy." she said angrily.

He stared at her in surprise before grinning and taking his ear buds out. "Wow, I gotta say you're pretty smart." he said putting out his hand, "The name's Yukio Hans Vorarlbern." he said.

Riruka grimaced and slapped him as hard as she could in the face, "You steal my money and you think now is the time for greetings?" she shouted angrily.

"You're strong too." he said from the ground. He stood up and looked at her, "What'd you say your name was?"

Riruka ignored him and walked away. Yukio stood up and chased after her. He slowed down and walked next to her as she headed to the store. She looked over to him with the same grimace she wore, "I didn't say you could follow me." she almost yelled.

"You didn't have to." he said, earning him another slap that spun him around. "I'm not leaving until you shake my hand." he yelled to her as he stood up and continued to follow her. "Hm... Riruka Dokugamine."

Riruka's eyes widened, "How do you know my... You son of a..." she shouted as she took her wallet back and kicked him in the groin.

Yukio groaned and fell to his knees as she walked away. "Can you shake my hand now?" he asked from the ground again.

"NO!"

"I knew it was a long shot." he said forcing himself to his feet. He kept following her into the store once they reached it. "So, what are we looking for?" he asked. Riruka simply remained silent. She walked through the store to an aisle with picture frames in it. She walked down the aisle until she found some frames that were about the size of books. She picked one up and pulled out the picture and placed it in the frame. It was a picture of Ichigo. "Who's that? Your brother? Boyfriend?" Yukio said out of nowhere.

"No..."Riruka said slowly and angrily, "he's a... dead friend of mine." she answered, Yukio giving a grunt in response. They continued through the store toward the _gardening_ section.

They walked into an aisle with many different types of supplies. Yukio walked in front of her and put out his hand again, "So will you shake my hand now Riruka?" he asked.

"Will you just leave me alone? Why are you even following me?" she shouted.

"Because," he started, "you're the only person that has ever caught me, I've been dying to see the day I shake your hand." he said. Riruka simply walked past him and picked out two pairs of gloves before leaving the aisle for checkout.

Riruka leaned against the couter as she waited in line, staring at the picture. Yukio stood next to her and waited for no reason but to shake her hand. "Is this just your thing? You stalk people around for no reason?" she asked him annoyedly.

"No, just you." he said sarcastically. Riruka rolled her eyes as she put her items on the counter.

The woman at the counter checked out her items, "That'll be $22.50." she said kindly.

Riruka counted through the money in her hand, "Damn, I'm short $2.50." she said annoyedly. Yukio reached in his pocket and pulled out some cash and handed to Riruka, who was hesitant to take it, assuming it was possibly stolen. She handed the money to the woman and took her items. The two teens left the store and Riruka started her walk to the Sanctuary. Yukio still followed her. "You know you should leave, there isn't any reason to follow me anymore."

"Yeah there is." he said, "One, you haven't shook my hand. Two, now you owe me for the money I gave you. And three, I think we have a shadow." he said pointing behind Riruka. She turned to see an all too familiar raven-haired woman. Riruka stared in horror as Yukio spoke, "She's been following us for a while. And you thought I was a stalker." he said as Riruka muttered something under her breath. "Huh? What d'you say?" he asked as Rukia reached for her thigh.

"R-r-run." she said before grabbing his wrist and running as the bullets began flying. Yukio yelped as he heard the crack of the gun. They dashed down the sidewalk with a group of panicking people. Riruka pulled them behind a car, to rest after the ran a block. "I think I know why she's after us." Riruka said.

"US? Why is she after us, what'd I do?" Yukio said in panic.

"Well you did admit to stealing from people." Riruka pointed out.

Yukio rolled his eyes as a bullet hit the car and bounced in front of them. Yukio picked it up and squeezed it, realizing that it was somewhat squishy, "Rubber bullets, guess she's not trying to kill us." he said.

"True," a voice said out of nowhere, "but soon you'll wish I was." Rukia said as she wrapped her hands around each of their throats, choking them. Yukio reached down and ripped the glove off of his right hand. His index finger glowed blue and he touched her arm shocking her until she let go of them and fell to the ground. Riruka stared in shock as Yukio stood up.

He looked down at her and pulled her up by the wrist before taking Rukia's gun and shooting down a power line. It fell to the ground and Yukio walked up to it and grabbed hold of Riruka, "Hold on tight." he said calmly as his finger glowed purple and he touched it. Riruka saw them pixelize and dissappear into the cable. Everything was a blue blur to her as they flashed through town. They finally reappeared out of an outlet on the wall of a building.

Yukio took off his hat and dusted it off as Riruka regained her balance before putting it back on his head. He turned to look at her and put out his hand once more, "Let's start over. My name is Yukio Hans Vorarlbern, and I believe you owe me a handshake."


	6. Rise & Realization

Yukio followed his new magenta-haired friend down the streets as police cars came rolling down the hill toward where the crazed woman opened fire on them. "So, where are we going now?" he asked.

Riruka stopped and turned to him, "Look, you're a Cryptid, and I'm a Cryptid, so we'll probably just be getting each other in trouble with people like Rukia."

"Rukia?" he interrupted in surprise, "You mean you knew that woman?" he asked confusedly.

"Uh, more or less. I don't know her personally, but I do know she's part of a Cryptid hating agency." Riruka responded.

Yukio looked at her suspiciously. "Something tells me you know more about this than I do. Do you mind filling me in?"

Riruka let out an annoyed sigh of agreement, "All I know is that she's a trigger happy woman that hunts Cryptids for pay, and takes them off to who knows where. Satisfied?"

Yukio shrugged and gave a, "Eh." before putting his hands behind his head. "So you think that chick will get arrested?"

"Probably not." Riruka said, "She probably has a high clearence to shoot anywhere she wants. She'll be after us again before even she knows it."

"Well then how do you stay safe from her?" he asked worriedly.

"I have a nice little place that me and my friends can hide from her." Riruka said with a smirk.

Yukio cocked an eyebrow in interest. "Well... then can you take me there until she blows by?"

She smiled and said in a fake sweet voice, "Sorry but I don't really want to know you, so bye bye!" she said before running off down the street.

"Hey!" he yelled before taking off after her. She ran as fast as she could so she could lose him. After a few minutes she looked back. There was no sign of him.

She grinned in satisfaction and walked down the street. She almost felt bad for leaving him like that. Almost. She caught sight of the Sanctuary, realizing just how distracted she was from what was going on in her life. She reached the door of the Sanctuary and walked in. "Guys, I'm back with your gloves!" she yelled pulling out the gloves she bought for the two coffin carvers.

"So this is the place? Not bad." a familiar voice said from behind her. She spun around with wide eyes. She had an odd feeling of surprise, but also should have seen it coming.

There stood the blond, green eyed boy she just got rid of. "How the hell did you get in here? You don't even have the insignia!" she yelled.

He stepped aside and pointed to the wall. "The little outlet over there. Did you already forget I can travel through the power lines?" he said. Riruka rolled her eyes. "And what insignia are you talking about?"

"This one!" she yelled turning around and lifting the back of her shirt up so he could see it. "The one that hurts like hell to get!"

Yukio leaned closer to get a good look at it. "Hm... Good choice for a first tattoo."

"It wasn't a tattoo! It was a fucking brand!" she yelled.

"Hey, hey! What the hell is going on in here? And who the hell is that?" Renji yelled as he and Tatsuki came in.

Yukio stupidly waved at them with a grin. "This idiot is Yukio. He got in through the outlet." Riruka said, leaving the two confused. "Cryptid." she said simply.

"Oh." Tatsuki said. "So... we're still picking up Cryptids. Good, nothing much has changed."

Yukio strangley looked up at the ceiling, toward the room where Ichigo was. Tatsuki snapped her fingers infront of his face, "Hey. Hey! What's wrong with him?"

Riruka and Renji shrugged. Yukio finally started moving walked across the room, up the stairs and down the hall like he lived there. He walked into the room where Ichigo rested. Everyone saw him and followed. He walked next to Ichigo's body and looked at him. He turned to everyone and asked, "Is this your dead friend?" everyone nodded, "He isn't dead, his body is shut down, but his brain is still functioning. He just needs a good shock."

Everyone looked at him in shock and surprise. He lifted a finger. It glowed blue and he touched the orange-haired Cryptid in the forehead. An electric shock ran through his body and caused his hair to become even spikier than usual. Tatsuki ran up to Yukio and grabbed the collar of his shirt, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she yelled.

There was a sudden sound of a deep breath. Ichigo shot up from his resting place and put a hand to his chest. Everyone stared at him in shock and disbelief. Tears of joy welled up in the eyes of the girls. He scanned the room and took in the sight that he had been deprived of for his death. He smiled and waved, "It's good to be back." he said.

Nozomi almost shrieked and wrapped her arms around his neck in absolute joy. He hugged her back as Tatsuki started studdering, "B-b-b-but how? How are you still al-alive?"

Ichigo grinned, "I used my Sixth Sense to stop my heart and organs to make Rukia think I was dead. I guess I did that a little too well. My Sixth Sense kept my body alive. You guys almost burried me alive."

"Yeah, sorry about that. We kinda thought you were dead." Renji said while scratching the back of his head.

Ichigo sighed and stood up, "Sorry to cut this conversation short, but I'm gonna take a nice long walk."

Everyone looked at him weird, even Yukio. "Why?" Nanao asked turning her head sideways.

"Because I haven't moved in days! My body is stiff as hell." he responded before looking at Yukio, "Who the hell are you?"

"Ichigo, Yukio. Yukio, Ichigo." Riruka said quickly. Ichigo gave a grunt and headed out the door with everyone else.

Riruka stopped at the door and waited for everyone to leave. When Ichigo made it to the door she stopped him. He looked down at her in surprise, "What do you need?" he asked curiously.

Riruka frowned and slapped him across the face with the back of her hand. He looked back at her in confusion while he rubbed the red mark on his face. "Don't you ever do that to me again!" she shouted.

He stared at her for a moment before saying, "Uh, okay." and leaving the room. Riruka stood for a moment staring at the wall.

"Your eyes dilated." someone said out of nowhere. Riruka looked behind the door to see Yukio leaning against the wall.

"What the...? What are you doing here? What do you mean?" She asked.

Yukio got off the wall and walked out the door. "It's a little known fact that a person's eyes will dilate when the look at someone they love."

Riruka blushed and asked, "What are you saying?" trying to play dumb.

"I think it's... rather obvious." he said before heading down the hall. He walked up to Renji and tapped his shoulder. He turned to the blonde and waited for him to ask something. "Hey, do you guys mind if I hang around until that Rukia chick blows over?"

Renji grinned, "You're basically asking if you can join the club. You'll have to ask Ichigo about that." he said pointing out the door in the direction Ichigo left.

Yukio rolled his eyes and ran down the street toward where Ichigo went. He saw the orange head of hair and ran for him. He skidded to a stop and tapped on Ichigo's shoulder, "Hey, hey, hey, can I stick with you guys?" he blurted out.

Ichigo stopped and looked at him, "Are you a Cryptid?"

Yukio looked at him and raised his hand to show his fingers glowing in random colors. "That answer your question?" he asked sarcastically.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Now explain how your Sixth Sense works." he ordered.

Yukio threw his head up, "Oh come on!" he said in annoyance as he showed his fingers glowing blue, "I can cause an electric shock with this," his finger glowed purple, "I can travel through power lines, cords, and stuff like that with this, " his fingers glowed orange, "put people to sleep with this," finally his fingers glowed red, "and this is a lethal little shock that I prefer not to use."

Ichigo tilted his head sideways, "Why don't you use it?"

"Because," Yukio said putting a glove on over his hand, "it drains my powers for a month or two."

Ichigo blinked in surprise, "Oh, so you're useless for a month. Ha, sure, your in. But you'll need..."

"Yeah, yeah, the damn tattoo." Yukio interrupted before lifting his sleeve to show his wrist.

"Riruka told you?"

"Yup."

"Good." Ichigo said grinning, "Then you know this'll hurt." he grabbed Yukio's wrist and started burning the mark on to him.

Yukio hissed and grunted in pain. Once the mark was put on his wrist he pulled it away from Ichigo's grip. Steam rose off of his new brand. He shook his hand trying to ease the pain. He walked back to the Sanctuary for whatever he could find to do.

Back at the Sanctuary, Riruka stood alone in the girls' bedroom remembering how devastated Nanao was when she found out Ichigo was supposedly dead. _"Why would she be so sad? They're friends, but... she was almost sadder than Nozomi. And her blood... why was it golden?"_ she thought to herself.

"I can answer those questions." someone said out of nowhere. Riruka turned to the door to see Nanao leaning against the wall.

Riruka looked at her in confusion, "Uh... uh... what questions?" she said trying to play dumb.

Nanao sighed in annoyance, "Stop avoiding the question, I can read your mind at this point, remember?" she said with a frown.

Riruka gave a nervous laugh before asking, "So... why were you so sad that he was dead? I don't think even Nozomi was as freaked out as you were."

Nanao giggled at her observation, "It's because I was the first Cryptid he ever found and rescued. I was the one that showed him this old building and made him decide to use it as a new home, and since I used to be known to be a little 'obsessive', I... kinda like to think of myself as his body guard." she said with a blush.

Riruka looked at her weird, "Body guard?" she asked trying not to laugh.

"Yeah, haven't you noticed I follow him almost everywhere he goes? He asked me not to go with him on his walk today, though." Nanao said before reaching for a knife that Tatsuki kept under the mattress of her bunk. "And now the golden blood you were thinking about." she said putting the blade to her wrist. She dragged it along her arm for a second until she was bleeding and then moved the curtain of the window so she could see the moon.

Riruka could hear her gasp and hiss as the blood coming from her wrist was golden. "Uh... Nanao? Are you okay?" she asked nervously as the girl in question stepped away from the window and stared at her wrist.

"Whenever I can see the moon, it fuels a second power that makes my blood useable as a weapon." she said morphing her blood so it wrapped around her wrist. "The bad thing, though, is the fact that if I don't use it, if my blood has no wound to leave my body through, it causes itself to boil."

Riruka stared at her for a moment. "Boiling blood?" she said quietly.

Nanao nodded. "Well, you've got your fill on info, so I guess we're done here." she said leaving the room.

"Wait!" Riruka yelled at the last second. Nanao looked back at her. "You said you protect Ichigo?" Nanao nodded, "So, in a way, you love him?"

Nanao grinned, "Well... maybe not like you or Nozomi, but..."

"Me?" Riruka interrupted.

Nanao looked at her in surprise, "Don't lie to yourself. You and I both know you at least care about him. I should know, you play it over a thousand times in your head every day, just wondering." Nanao laughed at the sight of Riruka's blush. "Well, I better go thank Yukio, you know, since everyone else already has." she said before taking her leave.

Riruka sat on the bed and thought. She wondered if Nanao was right, and if she was, would she and Ichigo have a future together? What would Nozomi think if she found out? Suddenly she heard someone snore and jumped off the bed. She looked on the top bunk of the bed she was sitting on to see Tatsuki sleeping. _"Has she been there the whole time?"_


End file.
